Milestone goes a long way

MIAMI -- ``How old is he?" Terry Francona asked, contemplating the hitting prowess of Manny Ramírez after the Red Sox slugger's milestone night.

He's 34.

``Doesn't look like he's slowing down," Francona said. ``He's just a phenomenal hitter. Been phenomenal and will probably continue to be phenomenal. As long as he's healthy, I don't see him slowing down."

With all things well in Manny land -- his agent said recently Ramírez wants to spend the rest of his career in Boston -- the slugger has been left to his hitting. And with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in his last 33 games, he's swinging the bat as well as ever. In last night's 11-5 Red Sox win, he walloped two mammoth, stand-and-admire home runs, one to each side of cavernous Dolphin Stadium. The first homer was the 2,000th hit of his 14-year career, making Ramírez the 241st player in history to accomplish the feat.

``That's an ability I don't understand," said Mike Lowell, who tied a career high with three doubles. ``Just for Manny to know he hit that ball out. This is not an easy park to hit the ball out to right field. I don't know. He's done it so many times, I guess he knows he's got it. It's just unbelievable."

Ramírez's first-inning shot settled 382 feet from home plate in the right-field stands, giving Sox starter Tim Wakefield a 3-0 lead. By the time the second blast left his bat, following a run-scoring double by David Ortiz in the sixth, the Sox held an 11-1 lead. Ortiz also homered twice, both coming off former Sox prospect Anibal Sanchez, and the only thing in doubt was exactly how many home runs the Red Sox sluggers could hit. Ramírez and Ortiz were lifted to begin the bottom of the sixth in favor of Gabe Kapler and Kevin Youkilis, but they left behind some impressive numbers. It was the 37th time they have homered in the same game, and the seventh time this season. It was Ramírez's 47th multi homer game, his 25th with the Sox, and his sixth of the season.

Even the sluggers' peers are impressed, not only by the frequency of their home runs, but by how far they hit them. Their four homers combined to sail an estimated 1,633 feet.

``We're teammates, but we get impressed, too," said Lowell, who added he's just happy if his home runs make the second row of seats. ``It's cool to see someone square up a ball and hit it as hard as they do. There's only a select few guys that can do that, so when you see it, you kind of take that in as a fan. I got to see something most people don't see."

Ramírez continues to climb the list of all-time home run kings. Last night he passed Jim Thome to take sole possession of 28th place with 457. And both the ridiculous (Jose Canseco, 27th place, 462) and the sublime (Stan Musial, tied for 23d, 475) are within reach this season. But after the game, the number everyone was talking about -- well, everyone other than Ramírez -- was 2,000.

``It does mean a lot to him," hitting coach Ron Jackson said, after the clubhouse turned up bereft of the slugger. ``He's just 34. He's gonna get 3,000 easy. Stay healthy. He loves to play. If he plays long enough, he's going to get to 3,000."

For now he has 2,000. And 2,001.

``And counting," Lowell said.